Boy Scouts of America under assault
Longer ago than I care to admit, I was a member of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), an organization established in 1916 and awarded a congressional charter. Sometime around 1999, I became aware of what I perceived to be coordinated efforts fronted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of a special-interest axis to delegitimize scouting in America.
The ultimate goal of this premeditated campaign is to abrogate a private organization, abetted with the willing assistance of the United Way, Public Broadcasting and Old Media, academe, radical elements within a political party, and private-sector entities in fear of diminishing profit margins. The BSA has helped generations of boys by teaching the values of patriotism, personal courage, self-reliance, the relevance of moral living, and service to families and communities. I strongly suspect from my own military experience that many of our young men proudly volunteering to serve our nation today are former scouts. So why the attacks?
Essentially, two key points of focus as outlined by the campaign are the BSA's principles regarding religion and sexual orientation, or decoded as simply BSA discrimination and intolerance. That such groups are in fear of any organization founded upon a belief in a higher power and a moral code is clearer to understand if one considers today's climate of societal engineering, political correctness, and discriminatory quotas.
Radical demands
The first allegation states that since there is no place for an atheist in the BSA, the organization is exclusionary. As to the second, it is alleged that because the BSA will not accept avowed homosexuals as leaders for young boys, those boys are being taught to be intolerant. Activists have demanded that the BSA be officially labeled a hate group. Let's review only the most glaring examples of such efforts thus far:
- New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the actions of the BSA to expel an openly homosexual scout leader violated New Jersey's "public accommodations" law;
- President Clinton issued Executive Order 13160, prohibiting discrimination based on "sexual preference" in "federally-conducted education and training programs." (that ultimately affected the BSA's use of federal lands);
- U.S. Supreme Court handed down its ruling that the New Jersey court violated the BSA's First Amendment right of expressive association, but by only a 5-4 margin;
- Local United Way organizations across America expelled the BSA from the group of organizations that will be included in local fund-raising drives;
- State and local governments across America prohibited the BSA from using publicly-owned buildings such as schools, public parks, and campgrounds;
- In Congress, Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey, D-California, sponsored H.R. 4892, The Scouting for All Act. The legislation was crafted to revoke the BSA congressional charter and was defeated;
- PBS aired an anti-BSA film called Scout's Honor, giving great sympathetic support to the radical group behind the BSA attacks;
- An Eagle Scout color guard presenting the colors at the opening of the Democratic National Convention was booed by the delegates;
- United Way of Broward County and the city of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida pulled $130,000 in funding for 42,000 boys because the South Florida BSA would not be pressured into signing a non-discrimination policy; and
- Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) declared August 21st a "National Day of Protest" against the BSA and staged demonstrations at BSA national headquarters and 36 local councils across 21 states.
Focal Points
That's enough to illustrate just how far this has gone. My research unearthed several hundred more examples (and I stopped looking after only a few hours).
Although I should be hardened to this sort of kerfuffle, I am genuinely appalled by what is happening to the BSA, and concerned for the young men and boys it helps across America (scouting in other Western countries has already succumbed and no longer represents true scouting principles). Today we have boys (Boys!) murdering one another, fathering and abandoning children, ridiculing our nation's laws and customs, and abusing the property, persons, and civil rights of citizens. It is therefore problematic for me that this ilk is attempting to destroy an organization that offers its members a sense of belonging, invokes leadership by example, promotes self-worth, and teaches American youth to attend to the welfare of others before themselves. Are the leaders of these special-interest groups and their families somehow immune from the adverse effects that stem from rudderless youth? Are they too ideologically blinded to see the long-term consequences of their actions?
There is no reason for me to broach the Creator issue. It is being contested at every level of government, judicial venue, and public forum, on topics ranging from school prayer, currency, and the Pledge of Allegiance to...insert Peeve Of The Moment here. I have my own belief, and the issue will wind up where it will. However, the labels of intolerant and hate group are another matter. Scouting does not ask potential members to divulge their sexual preference any more than the United States military does (remember don't ask, don't tell?). There are no written or distributed BSA policies that exclude homosexuals or atheists from membership registration.
My own troop had a member who in later years professed homosexuality, and yet that boy participated in every endeavor with us, including camping, just as he participated in everything at school. He simply didn't mention any affectation (if he indeed was aware at that time), just as we never flaunted our affinity for girls at any supervised youth event. And do I really have to waste perfectly good electrons commenting on girls in the BSA? Give it a rest. Girls have their own scouting organizations. BSA programs were specifically designed to meet the emotional, psychological, physical, and other specific needs of boys between the ages of 8 and 14. Girls are different and have different needs. Even today's pointy-headed elitists agree with this, so there is nothing more to be said. No, the real rallying point, the chicken bone stuck in the collective craw of the activists is the BSA's policy on openly homosexual scoutmasters:
The BSA has affirmed its stance through memoranda and resolutions that an avowed homosexual cannot serve as a role model (scoutmaster or professional) for the traditional moral values espoused in the Scout Oath and Law, and that these values cannot be subject to local option choices. There it is. How horrible. This is what hosebeast radicals hope will lead to the BSA's Cannae.
Ulterior Motives
The above is concisely stated, clearly reasoned, and quite understandable if one has no ulterior agenda. Still don't get it? Then let's apply some common sense. A scoutmaster is a powerful authority figure to a child and is often looked upon as a surrogate father. Children are impressionable, especially those in emotional need. As with everything else, follow the money but mind stepping in the cesspool of political hackery as you do: 1. BSA does not force these values upon anyone. It is a volunteer organization and operates completely on donations; 2. Scouting saves at-risk boys from the throes of drugs and crime, it performs an untold number of community service projects, and upholds and teaches the principles upon which the country was founded; 3. The ACLU and its allies are hurting children to advance their political goals, garner more political power, and thus control public funds; 4. BSA does not have a political agenda and does not teach or preach about any perceived evils of homosexuality.
So? So this. I believe the subject of homosexuality should not be interjected into the organization whatsoever. I believe that children are innocent unless indoctrinated by adults, and will soon enough be subjected to homosexuality outside the realm of scouting. I believe that the BSA should not be forced to abandon its honorable, nearly 100-year-old tenets, just as I believe charitable organizations have the right of choosing which groups they want to support.
I also have rights. Years ago I quit donating to United Way and PBS for many other reasons, so that denies me the pleasure of doing so now. I follow my community news closely and will actively assist any local scouting group that comes under attack, in any way I can. I will not purchase from or patronize any private-sector concern that alienates scouting. I donate generously each year to several unbiased and apolitical charitable organizations, as well as BSA and Save Our Scouting. And I wrote this rant, but it's just my opinion after all.